Maybe it would?ve been better if Mayweather and Pacquiao had never fought at all. Both fan bases could?ve saved face and each fighter?s team could still claim the high road. Optimism, illusion, and self-denial seem to be the path to happiness in this day and age.
And if Mayweather-Pacquiao had never happened, fight fans wouldn?t have to sit through a barrage of dismissive hate from a clueless mainstream media lashing out at the sport like enraged chimps finding out their orange quarter treat was just a wedge of painted Styrofoam.
All along, real fight fans knew that only one of two outcomes would be possible in a fair fight last Saturday night. Either Mayweather would box his way to an uneventful win, shutting down the frenetic energy that defines Manny Pacquiao?s style or Pacquiao would find a way to hit, hurt, and stop the war-averse Mayweather. Some of us too-clever-for-our-own-good types spoke of possible fixes or conspiracies?something really not all that crazy in the world of prizefighting. But in a legit match, it was either a long road of virtuoso ?keep away? or shocking and sudden violence.
As we all know by now, the former prevailed, as most expected, and ?Money? earned a fairly decisive unanimous decision.
Then came the reports of Pacquiao?s shoulder injury and questions of why he wasn?t allowed to take his USADA-approved anti-inflammatory injection cocktail before the bout. Team Pacquiao cried sabotage, The Nevada State Athletic Commission declared that Pacquiao had not been upfront with his injuries and the medicine being taken until it was way too late to investigate. They would counter Team Pacquiao?s angry, bitter, accusatory laments with the possibility of pursuing perjury charges against the Filipino icon for lying on state medical papers.
[Manny Pacquiao, Please Be Quiet About Mayweather Loss]
Meanwhile, the mainstream media, which had been granted full access to everything at the expense of boxing?s own veteran media, continued to hurl insults at what they saw as a cynical money grab between a clueless powerhouse and a cowardly cad, whose ring style was ignorantly referred to as ?dicking around in the ring? by Deadspin?s Drew Magary.
Maybe boxing is doomed after all. But not because of Mayweather-Pacquiao, directly. This was our Super Bowl and, just like any other major sporting event, there?s no guarantee that the biggest match-up will be the best match-up.
The sport may be doomed because the mainstream public is so horribly misinformed as to what boxing really is and the nuances involved in an elite-level prizefight. And while they take great joy in chopping down a sport they never cared for in the first place, boxing is too busy to defend itself, dealing with a controversy that should not be a controversy.
Was Pacquiao legitimately injured? By all accounts, yes. Was he recovered from that injury, at least enough to fight? By his team?s own accounts, yes. Was his team deceitful when dealing with the Nevada commission? Also, yes. Did Pacquiao come off as a sore loser after the bout? Yes. Did his claims allow for the mainstream media to issue one more en masse dismissal of boxing as they slammed the door behind them? Unfortunately, yes.
[Mayweather-Pacquiao Post-Fight Press Conference (Full Video)]
Meanwhile, Mayweather was Mayweather throughout this entire process. Love him or hate him, he did nothing other than what was always expected from him.
If Manny Pacquiao had stopped Floyd Mayweather in brutal fashion, we?d all be singing a different tune.
The media would be elated at the defeat of the hated ?Money? Mayweather, talk of shoulder injuries and commission medical forms would not be filling up the front pages of boxing websites. Everyone would?ve moved on to other bouts and the building of future stars.
But the hope for the happy ending died in the ring as Manny couldn?t solve the riddle that is Floyd Mayweather. An injury is no excuse. A fighter who chooses to enter the ring is indicating that he?s in condition to fight, period.
Simply put?Manny wasn?t good enough to beat Floyd.
So, no?Floyd Mayweather didn?t kill boxing. And, oh yeah, boxing?s not dying, either. But Saturday night, we did get a real glimpse of the uphill battle that awaits the sport as it tries to push its way to the mainstream once again.
